Medicine in Britain in the 18th & 19th Century (Edexcel GCSE History)

An increase in other, more scientific explanations like Germ Theory.

The decline of Spontaneous Generation.

The increase of religious beliefs.

A decline in the role of the government in the health of the people.

Conditions in hospitals continued to be unhygienic.

The issue of paying for medical care remained an issue.

There were plenty of hospitals across Britain.

Doctors did not have the specialised equipment that they needed.

The majority of people continued to believe that God caused all epidemic outbreaks of disease.

Scientists blamed contaminated water and unhygienic conditions as the cause of epidemic diseases.

The public, doctors and the government believed that all epidemics were caused by miasma.

People blamed the alignment of the stars and planets as a reason for both epidemics.

Carbolic acid was hard to administer accurately. He wanted to find an anaesthetic that was safer for his patients.

Ether was highly flammable. This was dangerous in an operating theatre lit by gas lamps or candles.

Prontosil irritated the lungs, causing the patient to cough even when they were unconscious.

Chloroform made patients vomit which was a negative side effect for patients going into surgery.

The number of smallpox cases did not drop until 1948. This was because of the public opposition to vaccination.

Many inoculators were happy to switch to administrating vaccines. This increased the number of people vaccinated in Britain in the 19th century.

Jenner’s method of creating vaccination was applied to develop vaccines for other diseases.

The British government preferred vaccination to inoculation. They supported a compulsory vaccination campaign for smallpox in 1852.

The public made Germ Theory very unpopular. Doctors such as John Tyndall continued to believe that Spontaneous Generation was the true cause of disease.

The public had no impact on the popularity of Germ Theory. The beliefs of doctors were more important so many people listened to their opinions.

The public sped up the acceptance of Germ Theory as the explanation of the cause of disease. They understood the science behind the theory.

The public blocked new developments in ideas, treatments and prevention of disease over time. It would take many years before the public accepted Germ Theory.

Edwin Chadwick’s Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Classes showed that the government had done enough to improve the living conditions in towns. Diseases were more easily prevented.

The government believed in miasma and Spontaneous Generation as the cause of disease. The government spent more money on scientific research into the best ways to prevent disease.

By the end of the 19th century, the government abandoned their laissez-faire attitude. They acknowledged that it was the government’s responsibility to protect the health of the nation.

The Public Health Acts of 1848 and 1875 showed that the government felt it was local councils' responsibility to prevent diseases in their towns and cities.

By the mid-1880s, scientists had disproved miasma and proved that contaminated water contained cholera. This made Snow’s work incredibly important in the later 19th century.

Snow’s work on cholera did not impact public health in Britain until the 20th century when the government passed laws to improve the quality of water.

Snow’s work was not important during the 19th century. He died in 1858 without the scientific evidence needed to prove his theory. It would not be until the 20th century that Robart Koch proved that contaminated water caused cholera.

Snow was incredibly important in the 19th century. After Snow presented his findings in 1855, the government acted. The General Board of Health and scientists believed that contaminated water, not miasma, caused cholera.

Nightingale influenced hospital design by promoting ‘pagoda style’ hospitals. Built on open ground the hospitals had separate wings with wards for infectious diseases.

Nurses became more highly trained and provided better care. However, many people in Britain still believed that nursing was not a respectable profession.

Nightingale wrote Notes on Nursing (1859). The book outlined nurse training, behaviour and the best care for patients.

Nightingale promoted anaesthetics to ensure the surgery was safer for patients in hospitals.

Aseptic methods allowed for longer and more complex surgery due to an improvement in surgical technology.

Aseptic methods ensured that the operating theatre had no bacteria. This increased the safety of surgery and reduced the risk of infection.

Aseptic methods meant that a patient’s wounds were cleaned before and after surgery. This meant wounds became less easily infected.

Aseptic methods including the sterilisation of equipment. This made care and treatment worse by 1900 because surgical equipment was used multiple times on numerous patients.